A new volcanic eruption began on Thursday February 8 on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwest Iceland, the third in the region since December 18. Television images show orange-red lava flows accompanied by a cloud of smoke rising from a fissure in the Icelandic night, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“At 6:30 AM [Paris time] this morning, a small earthquake began to intensify northeast of Sylingarfell. About thirty minutes later, an eruption started in the same area,” wrote the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO).
“According to initial reports from the Coast Guard surveillance flight, the eruption took place in the same area as the one on December 18. The crack is approximately 3 kilometers long,” IMO adds. The institute predicted an imminent eruption in its latest report.
This is the sixth volcanic eruption in Iceland in two years, the previous one having occurred in the early morning hours of January 14 near Grindavik, a small town of 4,000 inhabitants. This town had been evacuated on November 11 as a precautionary measure.
Thirty-two volcanic systems are considered active in this country of fire and ice, the most volcanic region in Europe.
